The debut of SpaceX on public markets triggered an extraordinary wave of retail buying, with Citadel Securities describing the activity as 'astronomical.' Net purchases by individual investors totaled $369.8 million in the first three days of trading, surpassing combined flows into all of the 'Magnificent Seven' tech stocks over the same period.
The stock soared within days of its IPO, briefly reaching a market value near $3 trillion before settling around $2.66 trillion. The fervor reflects a broader rotation out of AI stocks into newly public digital-asset and space-related firms, though crypto markets themselves have lagged.
On perpetual futures markets where SpaceX trades around the clock, the 'smart money' appears to be taking the other side. BeInCrypto reports that $45 million in short positions are now betting the stock will decline. This divergence between retail euphoria and derivatives positioning highlights uncertainty about the valuation.
The offering also disrupted broader ETF markets. Bloomberg reports that multibillion-dollar flows linked to IPO arbitrage strategies rattled funds including Cathie Wood's ARKK. At least one fund manager placed temporary restrictions on its product to curb the practice.
Some analysts caution that the retail-driven surge may be unsustainable. The enthusiasm for SpaceX echoes past manias in meme stocks, where early gains were followed by sharp corrections once momentum faded.